First off, MERRY CHRISTMAS! Our second Christmas Sunday ever at Element Church turned out to be another great one. It was VERY cold again today, but it didn’t keep the people from coming out. Here are my ruminations on the day.
— 10 people came to the altar today to receive Christ or renew fellowship with Him. YES, we had an old fashioned altar call. Our first one EVER at Element Church. I was so stoked. THAT is the most important # on the day.
— I didn’t plan on it at all but at the end of the message we had a song planned that Adam was going to sing. I just felt like we needed to open the altar. With never doing an actual inviation (because of the lack of space in theater) I didn’t know what the response would be. Plus we have a lot of people who are unfamiliar with church and may have never even seen an altar call (weird to think about). But Adam started singing the song and 5 people came forward in first service. VERY moving. A couple of men at the altar were moved to tears as they sought Christ. Reminded me of why we are here. I remember praying for this to happen LONG before Element ever started.
— We closed the service with “I Celebrate The Day” by Relient K. VERY cool song. Chorus: “The first time that you opened your eyes, did you realize you would be my Savior. And the first breath that left your lips did you know that it would change the world forever.”
— New attendance record today. 615 people came to Element. I was blown away.
— Second service was PACKED. We ran out of chairs and had to raid the youth room for more. I can’t believe it. Need to order more this week. We can fit another 50 – 60 chairs in the room. Maybe up to 75 or more if we REALLY squeeze.
— If you currently attend second service and can switch to first, PLEASE DO! It’s crazy that 3 weeks into the building and we’re full in one service. We had 100 seats open in first service. TONS of kids in first service though. Ekidz had 75 I think first service.
— Proud of Adam and the band today. They weren’t able to practice this week which always makes for an interesting Sunday. One of the songs we did in first service just didn’t gel like it needed to. Adam and the band called an audible, pulled the song for second service and threw in another one with NO practice at all. It fit the worship set better and don’t think anyone knew (until now). They did a GREAT job. LOVE the version of O Come Let Us Adore Him they do.
— We’re having trouble getting the sound mix to be right in the new place but Andy is doing a fantastic job figuring it out. Made some adjustments today that seemed to help.
— This is going to sound wrong, but I loved the sermon today. I really enjoyed preaching it, felt like it connected and loved the theme we went with. The topic we had originally planned for today fit better into our next sermon series (Which I’m SUPER stoked about). I was intrigued by a sermon series from another church planter called “Jesus Is NOT The Reason For The Season”. I preached from Matthew 1 today, Joseph’s encounter with the Angel telling Him of Jesus. I asked the question “What is the reason for the season?” What if it’s not Jesus?
— Before you go screaming in the streets PLEASE either listen to the message OR take a chill pill. There was great power in the Christmas story but that’s not the reason. Prophecies were fulfilled proving Jesus is the Christ but that isn’t the reason. A call to obedience like Joseph and Mary had but that isn’t the reason. The reason for the season is US! Without US and our sin problem Christmas would have never happened.
— Jesus isn’t the reason for the season, He is the SOLUTION. Jesus didn’t come so that we could have Christmas. He came so that we would have a SAVIOR. It was MY sin and MY problem that caused Jesus to come. If it wasn’t for us there would be no Christmas.
— That thought causes such anguish and joy at the same time. Anguish that I have treated Christ the way I have in my life, but JOY that He came for me anyway. I OWE HIM MY LIFE!! So do you!
— “You shall call Him Jesus for He will save HIS people from their sins.”
— Thanks to Michael at Oak Leaf Church for helping in the inspiration for the message.
— Over $3000 was given toward Adopt A Mom. We were able to provide Christmas and help pay a months mortgage for FIVE families. THANKS ELEMENT CHURCH!
— Rockin’ Around The Tree is COMPLETELY SOLD OUT (of free tickets lol). If you have tickets and will NOT be using them PLEASE bring them back to the office. Don’t forget it’s on the 23rd. Christmas EVE EVE.
— 25 families are signed up to deliver boxes of donuts to buisness and people that have to work on Christmas Eve. LOVE that we’re doing this. That’s 75 dozen donuts going out around the city with our servant evangelism cards saying “This is our simple way of saying God loves you”. If you want to sign up you can email the office and we’ll get you on the list. Better do it quick though, we need to order the donuts.
— Alright, this got long. GREAT day. Can’t wait to hit the office tomorrow and start working on the week.
Following Christ,
Jeff
